Improvement in plaiting-machines



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD s. HARDING, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

I'MPROVEMENT IN PLAITING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 186,246, dated January16, 1877; application filed May 27, 1876.

To all whom ct may concern: 7

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. HARDING, of Baltimore city, State ofMaryland, have invented a new and Improved Plaiting-Machine; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same.

The object of my invention is, to furnish the dress and shirt makers,and others'having occasion to plait any class of light goods, a simple,inexpensive, and labor-saving device by which goods of various widthsmay be plaited quickly and neatly, and with a saving of time as comparedwith other boards of the kind.

The device consists of a board provided with two parallel rows of pinsset vertically therein, and a fixed and removable bar applied to orconnected with the respective rows, for the purpose of holding theplaiting rods or needles in the proper position.

By makingone of the bars removable the plaited fabric may be removedfrom the board with greater facility than from the boards heretoforeemployed. The plaiting-board is also constructed in sections, or withone side removable, to adapt it for use of larger or shorter needles,according as it is desired to plait wide or narrow goods.

In the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification,Figure lis a plan view of the board, showing a piece of fabric plaited thereon.Fig. 2 is a side or edge view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side or edgeview, showing a modification. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the board, onareduced scale, showing the removable sections adjusted as required forplaiting narrow pieces of fabrics.

Parallel rows of short studs or pins a extend along the respective sidesof the rectangular board A. The pins are set vertical, and neartogether, but equidistant. A metal or other bar, 6, is soldered orotherwise firmly attachedto the tops of the pins of one row, and aremovable grooved bar, 0, is applied to the other row. In the lattercase, the pins enter the groove in the under side of the bar 0, and thesame is held in fixed in the board at the ends of the row of pins. Thebar 0 may hence be removed, whenever desired, by sliding it lengthwisethrough the staples. (As an alternative, instead of emplace thereon bystaples d,'

end, and rods e are laid underneath or above the same, at such distancesapart and in the manner required to form the desired plaitingknife,side, box, or bias. The ends of the rods are inserted between the pins,and .the latter hold them the proper distance apart.

The following specific directions for forming small plaits will sufficeto illustrate the mode of operation for all kinds of plaiting: Lay thecloth on the board A, face side down; insert a needle. in the secondspace-that is, between the second and third teeth; turn the cloth backover the needle; insert another needle in the first space back of thefirst needle-i. a, between the first and second pins. Then turn thecloth back over the first needle inserted. Insert a needle in the thirdspace, and turn the cloth back again, and insert a needle in the secondspace, which will leave two needles in the second space, and so continuetill the board is full. To commence again, insert a needle in the lasttwo folds. If the folds require to be wider, the needles must, ofcourse, be put farther apart. In other words, certain spaces must beomitted.

When the folds have been all properly arranged, a damp cotton cloth islaid over them, and they are pressed with a hot iron, to give them thedesired set. The 'iron imparts some of its heat to the rod, and it isconsequently somewhat difficult to remove them from the plaited fabric,and too much time would be consumed in waiting for them to cool. Thisobjection is obviated by making the bar 0 detachable, as before stated,so that the rods may be removed without any delay.

In order to adapt the board A for use of short rods or needles, asrequired when plaiting narrow goods, it is obviously necessary the rowsof pins shall he brought nearer together. For this purpose it isrequisite the board A shall be constructed in sections, somewhat afterthe manner ofa common extension dining-table. The row of pins to whichthe fixed bar is attached is therefore set in a detachable piece, f, andother detach able pieces, g h intervene between it and the main portionA of the board. The several pieces are all provided with dovetailgrooves on the under side, to receive dovetail bars Z, which are letinto the main portion of the board. The several pieces 9 h will,therefore, slide on and off the bars I, and in this manner the piecef,in which the pins are inserted, may be placed the desired distance fromthe other row, to' accommodate either the long or short rods.

Incidental to the above-described function of the dovetail bars I isthat of imparting strength and rigidity to the board A, thus preventingwarping or cracking of the same frornthe effect of the heat of the iron.

What I claim is- 1. A plaiting-board provided with rows of pins a a, anda removable bar connected with.

one of the rows, described.

2. The detachable grooved bar 0 and fastening devices, in combinationwith the row of pins, substantially as specified.

3. A plaiting-board made in sections, which are detachable one from theother, substansubstantially as shown and ,tially as shown and described.

4:. The dovetail bars Z, and removable sections, one of which latter isprovided with a row of pins, in combination with the main section of theboard, as shown and described.

EDWARD S. HARDING. Witnesses:

SOLON O. KEMON, JNO. D. PATTEN.

